Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Winter Meetings Day 3

LAS VEGAS — Heading up to bed last night at about 3 a.m., we caught wind that C.C. Sabathia had come close to an agreement to pitch for the Yankees. This morning, it’s reportedly a done deal.

So C.C. will be in the East, not great news for the Blue Jays. It’ll also be interesting to see what this 7-year, $160ish million deal will mean for A.J. Burnett’s pending deal. It could potentially drive up his asking price.

Later this afternoon, we’ll be sitting down with Jays manager Cito Gaston to talk shop. It’s still mostly quiet on the Toronto front, with no real updates on what’s already been reported. So, I’ll keep you posted with any updates throughout the day.

~JB

Like this:

LikeLoading...

Related

18 Comments

GS you do make some very good points but what I think you’re assuming is that the core you’ve mentioned will be exactly the same in 2010 that it is now. You’d have to think that if these guys do perform better in ’09 that the value for them will increase and it’ll be easier to deal them should they choose to do so. Worst case scenario is that they aren’t contending by the ’09 deadline and can deal off a few core guys for some prospects/salary relief OR J.P. is fired and the new G.M will at least have a potentially great pitching staff to work with in 2010. Most of the guys had underachieving years by their standards so if you want max. value as you’ve correctly mentioned a few times wait untill they’re showing that they can still be good.

Also, just because they are talking to Pavano doesn’t mean they still can’t shed some payroll via trading the bigger contracts. If they unload Ryan (for example and sign Pavano for about 2 mill. they still save 8 million. I know he’s not the answer though so don’t rip me for thinking he’s the saviour.

GS – about Furcal, it’s true that J.P. does lie often but this time the source was Furcal’s representative so I can’t see how J.P. is lying about that. Whether or not he’ll get the money to sign him is a different story though.

Jordan,
If you have a chance to watch the dark knight blu-ray do so. It’s outstanding.

Enigma
Furcal has already turned down 4 years and $36 mill. or in Jays terms $46 million over 4 years or about $12 mill per year. He turns 32 next year, so whoever signs him for 4 years has to realize he’s going to decline in performance throughout the contract and it’s a real heavy contract. The only way I see Jp getting approval to sign him is if he gets rid of at least one of the heavy contracts we’re already hung with.

My perfect scenario for short stop would see us do a deal with Milwaukee for Alcides Escobar, and while we at it do a deal for Matt Gamel (3rd base) as well.

Again, I’ll say that you never know how this team is gonna play. Who would’ve thought last year that the Twins and Sox would’ve finished ahead of Detroit and Cleveland, and that the Rockies would’ve tanked the way they did?

Look at a rotation of Halladay, Downs, Litsch, McGowan, Purcey/Cecil/Janssen/FA or trade. Even without Burnett and Marcum, this team has some good arms both in SP and bullpen. I wouldn’t put all the hopes on the 2010 season (or beyond). It’s hard to predict that far ahead, and I have a feeling Marcum won’t be quite the same when he returns.

A lineup similar to below could also score a lot of runs under Cito, if everyone hits like they’ve done on average in their careers, or better. There are many question marks though. Basically, there are question marks about every single player listed below considering their recent performances. But they’ve also all historically shown that they have potential…
Rios Of
Hill SS
Lind OF
Wells CF
Snider DH
Overbay 1B
Rolen 3B
Barajas C
Inglett SS

Reverse the series outcomes with Cleveland in 08 (1-7?), and the Jays’ would have had 92 wins. With a bunch of good teams beating up on each other in the AL East, 92 wins could be enough.

LAS VEGAS ( from SI.com) — The Yankees are believed to have offered free-agent starter A.J. Burnett a five-year, $80 million deal. The Atlanta Braves are considered the other main contender for Burnett, and they offered him a four-year contract for $60 million with a vesting option for a fifth year. It isn’t known yet whether Atlanta will match the Yankees’ big bid. The Nationals, Orioles, Blue Jays and Red Sox also have spoken to Burnett’s camp at the meetings.

The Yankees also remain very interested in free-agent starter Derek Lowe, having talked to him about a four-year, $60 million deal. Additionally, the Yankees have been reviewing the medical records of Ben Sheets and are interested in him, depending on how the negotiations go with Burnett and Lowe, and are still considering bringing Andy Pettitte back to the Bronx for another season.

gsjays, I heard that the yankees upped their offer to Burnett for $85 million over 5 years. Now if the yankees get Lowe or Sheets, a healthy rotation of Sabathia, Wang, Burnett, Lowe, and Chamberlain sounds pretty intense.

What is J.P doing! I like the furcal deal but not the pavano or clement. pavano is garbage the guy has play like 26 games in four years. Tell me what u think of these deals. i think they are ridiculous

Freedom
The Yanks have stated they will be signing a minimum of two of three of Burnett, Lowe and Sheets, and possibly all 3. In addition, they have expressed interest in re-signing Andy Petite-which might or might not be a smoke screen. It could be that they put Chamberlain back in as the set up man instead of starting.

No question, its a strong group of starters ( probably the best in MLB) and they’ll have backup depth with Hughes and Kennedy. They also did a good job last year of rebuilding their bull pen, and if Chamberlain goes back as the set up man, their bullpen will be as good or better than ours.

Even after these signings, they still have lots of money to spend and have let it be known they’d like to sign both Tiexeira and Manny. If that happens, along with this pitching staff, I think I’d bet on the Yanks being in the playoffs. lol

GS- I definitly agree with you. I didnt put that to thought. I just saw that they would be getting a short stop who has proved himself in the league as both a hitter and defensivle. Dont get me wrong i love john macdonald and scutaro. Then jays need that leadoff bat furcal brings. Ever since JP start the job and general manfer he has been doing it. Signing guys off a injury year and hope they can get back to what they were before the injury. I would like to see him get a player has proved themselves in the league and have stay healthy most of the time. What about maybe a rebuild? just a thought. He keeps saying if we are healthy we will be good, well the team cant, even though some are just unlucky.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.